Andalucía detects at least five cases of British covid strain

BarcelonaAndalucía has already detected the first five cases of coronavirus of the new British variant - 70% more contagious - among its citizens. All cases relate to people who had recently arrived from the United Kngdom. As reported by the Ministry of Health and Families of the Andalusian Government, the figure could grow in the coming hours: there are four more cases under study in the province of Málaga. Andalucía is the second autonomous community to confirm cases of this new strain after Madrid announced on Boxing Day that it has detected at least four cases.

Of the five cases confirmed so far in Andalucía, three are patients from the province of Málaga and two from the province of Granada. Both confirmed cases and the cases being studied, however, fit the same profile: they are people who had recently returned to Andalucía from the United Kingdom.

The Andalusian government has stated that all confirmed cases show a good clinical evolution. The microbiology service of the San Cecilio Clinical University Hospital in Granada, which has the capacity to sequence the virus genome, is in charge of studying all these samples.

More controls at airports

The Andalusian government has stressed the importance of the Spanish government establishing measures at airports to ensure more control of the entry of the coronavirus and its variants.

The president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, took the same position when her community announced the first cases, confirming that the British strain had arrived in Spain. From Toledo, Ayuso denounced the "irresponsibility and inaction" of the president of the Spanish government for making Barajas a "sieve" of cases. That is why she asked for "firmness" at the airport and for antigen tests to be done on all passengers.